How Good Can Meat-less Burgers Be?
One time hubby mentioned in passing that he’d like to try moving towards a plant-based diet. It wasn’t a bad idea at all since there were many benefits to our health, the environment and to animal welfare but it was definitely easier said than done. I knew hubby was a big fan of meat for its protein component so I didn’t give his comment much thought until I stumbled across the Beyond Burger patty hanging out conspicuously next to the conventional patties made from real beef. I texted hubby if he’d be interested in trying it and surprisingly, I received a quick reply of “yes” from him.
Cooking Burgers for Only 2 People
I quickly went around the grocery store looking for condiments to assemble the patty with. I’ve always disliked buying an ingredient only to use a little bit of it for a certain dish so I ended up choosing two hamburger buns from the bulk section, a hot house tomato and an avocado to pair with the burger. I planned to add ketchup and bacon (I know…) which I remembered I had at home already.
Burger Condiment Suggestions for One-Time Use
– Tomato
– Buns from the bulk aisle
– Avocado
– Fried egg
– Small pack of gourmet cheese
Easy Cleanup
When dinner time came around, I unpacked the two patties from the container and found that they were neatly packaged inside the plastic container with a small piece of butcher paper in between the meat and the container. This allowed easy removal of the patty and a quick rinse off of the plastic container for recycling. I really liked that part and knowing the patties did not contain meat also helped ease my mind that I’d contaminate any cooking surfaces with E.coli.
Cooking the Meat-less Patty
As per the instructions, I heated a pan on med-high heat. What it didn’t say was whether or not oil was needed so I decided to add some avocado oil to prevent the patties from sticking. The instructions were for cooking 4 minutes a side but I cooked the first side for 3 minutes and had to turn down the heat to medium for the second side since it was already starting to blacken a bit. Then I did 4 minutes on the second side and then flipped it back and did one minute more on the original side. It was really easy to cook and it didn’t shrink with the heat.
Moment of Truth
By this time, I had to assemble the cooked patties quickly with the buns, mashed up avocados, sliced tomatoes, ketchup and crispy bacon because my infant daughter had awoken from her sleep. I left the burgers on the plate and hurriedly told hubby to just eat without me first. Dinner time is always like this at home nowadays with a new baby. While I was still struggling to put Bibi back to sleep, hubby came into the bedroom to see how I was managing on that (not great). Before he left, he said, “btw, great job on the burgers!” OMG, I was so happy to hear that. Dinner time is always a struggle with a husband who I deemed to be a “picky eater” as you may know from my previous post on Indulge with Mimi. I was so elated with his approval that soothing a still crying baby was no longer so hard. I could now add one more item on my slowly expanding list for go-to dinners in the future.
When I finally had a chance to sit down and enjoy the burgers myself, I found the patties were still juicy and had the same texture of a regular beef patty. The flavor was also identical to a seasoned beef patty. To be objective, I didn’t try the patty by itself but I’m assuming anyone buying it would be consuming it as a whole assembled burger with condiments.
Overall, I liked the patty for the taste and texture which was just like a regular juicy beef patty. I really appreciated that it was an animal-friendly alternative and it was an easy meal idea that I could assemble quickly with a young family. I have a whole routine for sanitizing my kitchen after cooking meat so this plant-based product also helped me save time in that regard. My only consideration would be with the nutritional value and the sodium level. You can read more about it from this article. The price is about twice that of regular beef at around $8 CDN for just two patties. For me, the value is there since the earth-friendly concept and ease of use appeals to me. The next night, hubby wanted to have the burgers again so this was also a huge selling point for me personally. I would definitely recommend you try it at least once.
Until next time.
XOXO,
Mimi
Beyond Meat is sold and served in select grocery stores and restaurants, respectively. Find one near you.
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